President Joe Biden has privately wondered if he will be dead before his son Hunter Biden’s legal troubles are resolved, NBC News reports.
The emotional toll of Hunter Biden’s ongoing legal issues is weighing heavily on President Biden and first lady Jill Biden, sources told NBC News. Joe Biden has lamented that he might die before Hunter’s case is decided and the president and first lady have resigned themselves to Hunter’s legal issues getting even worse, a source close to the Bidens told NBC.
White House aides are sensitive about the Hunter Biden matter to the point where “everybody walks around on eggshells in the West Wing,” another source familiar with the matter said to NBC.
“Every day, this president wakes up and thinks about his deceased son and probably cries every day. And the weight of [Hunter’s legal troubles] is equally emotionally taxing,” said Michael LaRosa, a former press secretary to Jill Biden.
Hunter Biden was indicted Thursday on three gun charges and faces a maximum of 25 years in prison. The White House declined to comment on Hunter’s indictment at a Friday press briefing.
Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to two tax misdemeanors in July after Delaware U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika scrutinized an immunity provision tucked into the pretrial diversion agreement for Biden’s felony gun charge. Noreika’s questioning caused a rift between Biden’s counsel and the Department of Justice (DOJ) resulting in Biden’s plea deal falling apart.
Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss in August to be special counsel for the Hunter Biden case. Noreika granted Weiss’ subsequent request to withdraw Biden’s Delaware tax misdemeanors in order to potentially charge him in D.C. or the Central District of California.
IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler have accused DOJ investigators of giving Hunter Biden special treatment under Weiss’ leadership before he was granted special counsel status. The House Ways and Means, Oversight and Judiciary Committees are investigating the whistleblower allegations and leading the impeachment inquiry into President Biden, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday.
House Oversight is also investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings and the role Joe Biden allegedly played in them. The White House said in June Joe Biden was “not in business” with his son.
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